D'Urville

My husband took me to Blenheim for my birthday, and our stay at Hotel d’Urville was absolutely fabulous. We stayed in the Executive Suite, which was beautiful, spacious and wonderfully comfortable. The bed was incredibly comfortable … one of those beds you genuinely do not want to leave! After returning from dinner, we opened some wine and settled onto the leather Chesterfield, which was the perfect way to end a lovely evening. Despite being right in the centre of town, the hotel was wonderfully peaceful and quiet. The staff were exceptionally warm and friendly, and everything about our stay felt relaxed, welcoming and special. It really was perfect, and I would happily stay again.

Lovely old-style hotel in a central location. Staff very friendly and helpful. Cocktails available 🍸! Bed very comfy. Room can be chilly prior to putting on air con but warms up nicely then. Be sure to fully close the door of your room before you retire or it can be pushed open from the hallway.... otherwise, when fully closed, it can only be opened with a key.

I was excited to stay in this great old building that has a lot of history. Their website looks great with photos of rooms beautifully furnished with antiques. That is not the case at all, and they have no restaurant as listed. They only have a bar with a minimal selection of wines. The worst part of all is the smell in Room 8. Sewer gases were coming up through the plumbing in the bathroom. The bar manager knew what the smell was as soon as she walked in and moved me to another room. However the next day the hotel manager was visibly annoyed and told me that room was booked, that I could not switch rooms, and needed to go back to room 8. She said she would use a treatment for the bathroom odor. I had a wine tour that day and could not monitor the situation and told her I could not stay in the room with that smell. When I returned that evening, the room had obviously been sprayed with air freshener, so it was difficult to tell, but as the night wore on the acrid odor from the bathroom permeated the room. I closed the bathroom door, but there is a vent in the door. The windows don’t open so I could not allow fresh air in. The smell actually kept me awake. I also did not want to use the shower. When I told the manager the next day that the room was uninhabitable because of the odor she said I was the only one who’s ever complained about it. I highly doubt this is true since both she and the bar manager knew exactly what I was talking about when I complained and they had a “treatment” for it. My request for a refund was denied since she thinks the room is worth $295. It’s not worth $5 if you can’t sleep because of the odor.